29 Jun 2021

Featured Artist: from Beaverton, Oregon Sharon Dunham

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Sometimes it is the simple boldness of geometric patterns or the contrast of images in black and white; other times it is the remarkable beauty of our colorful environment – people, landscapes and city-scapes – that captures her imagination.

Sharon has been involved in the Oregon (now Pacific NW) Glass Guild for many years serving in several board positions. She has participated in a number of local juried shows. Both the Oregon Convention Center and Travel Portland had commissioned her to create awards for OCC’s high end vendors and for its 20th Anniversary celebration in addition to having her develop an annual Twin Spires Award for Travel Portland.

Sharon was introduced to the world of stained glass during her college days in the 70’s in Eugene. After a long hiatus, she returned to creating glass art when she moved to Portland. More recently, she transitioned from cold glass to the art of kiln formed (fused) glass. Keeping true to her glass roots she currently teaches stained glass classes in her community. See more of Sharon’s work

29 Jun 2021

Featured Artist: from Burien, Washington Lael Bennett

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Glass has been at the forefront of my world for 30 years. It started in 1991 when I took a stained glass class at Glass Expressions in Burien, WA (just south of Seattle). I fell in love with working with glass and in 1993 quit my job at Boeing and became a partner in the shop. A couple of years later I started exploring fusing glass and have been doing it ever since. I started teaching fusing at the shop and have always been eager to try every technique to expand my knowledge.

I have taken many classes from other glass artists over the years and am kind of a class junkie. We can never stop learning! I focused on creating and selling dichroic jewelry for many years. Exploration into reactive glass and silver led me to create a line of decorative plates and new jewelry styles. Now experimenting with the reactive glasses seems to find its way into every new technique I try

I teach beginning, reactive, and jewelry fusing classes. At Glass Expressions we sell fusing glass and supplies in addition to standard stained glass supplies. We also have kilns available for firing projects for customers that don’t have their own kilns. Glass Expressions has just become one of the guild’s sponsors. I will be participating in the Guild’s general meeting on July 18th at 2pm on the subject of Inclusions and Reactions !

5 Nov 2020

Featured Artist: Winter 2020 Karen Seymour

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Karen Seymour sets up to fire icicles

Karen got started in glass in 1998 when she went looking for a table for her back yard and couldn’t find anything she liked so decided to build her own. The result was a 48″ glass on glass appliqué koi pond that had all her friends and relatives wanting one too. That led to teaching classes and publishing two pattern books. In 2013 she wanted to make a lava table but couldn’t figure out how to do it in flat glass so she got a kiln. Several other tables resulted, including one portraying an 18″ dichro ammonite fossil.

Snow Melt Lampshade, Karen Seymour
Maple Lampshade, Karen Seymour
Solar Lanterns, Karen Seymour
22 Oct 2020

Featured Artist – Fall 2020 Lyn Kennison

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Lyn Kennison
Waterfall, Lyn Kennison

I started my path with creativity early by learning to sew and knit with my grandmother. Sewing lasted, knitting did not. The sewing of clothes flowed into quilt making, macramé, embroidery, wall hangings all using lots of color. An offer for a stained glass class captured my interest and passion and all the fabric related artistic endeavors flowed into stained glass, and glass quilt patterns on stepping stones then windows. The stained glass flowed into fusing glass. At first it was jewelry and small plates but soon became more. I was hooked and never looked back.

For the past 15 years I have been working with glass in some form: jewelry, abstracts, mosaics, fusing functional and nonfunctional pieces, garden art with lots of color. I have taken many classes from very talented people, world famous as well as locally famous. The Glass Guild has provided many opportunities for growth and learning. I’m still looking for my niche.I get inspiration from the outdoors in all the seasons, fabric designs, photographs, and other artists. I love putting colors together in different ways. Working in glass is often meditative and soothing and also frustrating and challenging. The best part is when you let go and let the glass tell you what it wants to do. As Thomas Merton once said “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time”. I’m still working on it.

Wisteria hanging flower pot
Lyn Kennison
Red Abstract, Lyn Kennison